**6. Conclusions**

The intensification of Yankee whaling in the Caribbean was due to a combination of factors such as (1) depletion of stock whales in traditional whaling grounds of the North Atlantic and (2) higher costs of whaling which led to the search of lower labor costs by hiring crews in the West Indies, particularly given that wages for crews of merchant vessels and shore industries were higher.

The discovery and development of a replacement commodity (mineral oil) together with the increase risks of investment on the whaling activity due to longer and longer voyages would ultimately signify the end of whale oil as a major commercial commodity.

The bulk of Yankee whaling in the Caribbean Basin was short-lived and out of sync with the heyday of Yankee whaling. It concentrated in the southeastern Caribbean most likely because of the abundance of humpback whales in that area. The cultural influence of Yankee whalers varied by location mostly determined on whether or not their arrival took place before the development of local shore whaling. Therefore, a combination of factors, including whale stocks, political events, and labor and other economic and social issues influenced Yankee whaling activities in the Caribbean.

Both Yankee whaling and local shore whaling led to the depletion of humpbacks in the Caribbean Basin as it has been quantified elsewhere (Swartz et al. 2003, Smith and Reeves 2003).
